The Smithsonian generates plenty of controversy for various reasons.
One exhibit that I recall generating some press in the '80s was the
Insect Zoo at the Nat'l Museum of Natural History; the re-do was paid
for by Orkin Pest Control.  Irrc, Spenser Crew's 'From Field to Factory'
on African-American life was discussed heatedly, although it became a
mainstay of the NMAH.  There was a controversy about the Natural History
Museum's dated anthropology exhibits, with part of them being closed off
to the general public in the late 1990s.  Also the current American
Indian Museum's exhibits got some very harsh press in NY and DC this
past fall.  And the on-again, off-again African-American Museum
proposal, while not quite the same, might be worth looking into.

The Library of Congress had some problems w/ photographs of slave
plantations about a decade ago.  Also some with an exhibit on Freud,
although I can't remember why.

The travelling exhibit, Illegal Art is designed to be controversial.  A
search should pull up its website quickly.

Someone else mentioned Von Hagen's Body Works - very good choice.  I saw
it in London and enjoyed it immensely, but there's been a lot of press
on the appropriateness of it.  This would be a good case for a student.

Speaking for myself, and not my employer, 

Michael Rhode, Archivist
Otis Historical Archives
National Museum of Health and Medicine
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, DC 20306-6000
202-782-2212; FAX 202-782-3573
http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum
http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/collections/archives/archives.html

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